In the gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game. Presently there is a trend with slot machines to offer additional games that can be played, in addition to standard game play involving spinning reels. These additional games are often referred to as a “feature game”, or “bonus game”.
US 2010/0304831 A1, to Suda et al. shows a slot machine having an array of symbols displayed for both primary and secondary (e.g. bonus) game play. The feature game play is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome of the basic game. In particular, Suda describes using a subset of columns to indicate whether feature game capability is achieved. In one embodiment, the columns in which scatter symbols appear are selected for feature game purposes. A “scatter symbol” is a symbol that indicates some kind of special bonus, or bonus play.
US 2009/0275387 A1, to Yoshizawa, discloses a slot machine that displays a matrix of symbols as part of the primary game play and secondary game play occurs where the symbols are classified according to background color. The symbols having a common background color are grouped and re-positioned adjacent to each other on the display. In other words, symbols positioned once on a display are repositioned so as to gather the symbols with the same background color. Yoshizawa confirms that background effects can be an important part of gaming experience, particularly with secondary or feature game play.
US 2008/0108411 A1, to Jensen et al. discloses a slot machine gaming device having a roaming wild symbol where when a wild symbol appears on one of the reels and a designated trigger symbol also appears, the wild symbol expands to form an expanded wild symbol set. The trigger symbol determines the number of times the expanded wild symbol set will roll or move across the reels. This provides a variant of standard slot machine play that interests game players.
The gaming industry is competitive and ever-evolving. Although many games continue to entertain gaming enthusiasts, there is still an unmet need for better and more interesting games and features. There is also an unmet need for making gaming experience user-friendly to enable a player to readily understand the various gaming features and variations available, particularly with respect to feature games that follow different rules than standard slot machine reel play.